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Here is a demon. The demon is in his swimming pool.
He doesn't swim naked, so he takes the summon anyway.
demon cam vs the clam planet
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from_scratch
from_scratch
Of course he does.
Do these aliens want to talk if he makes a speaker and yells at them?
Do these aliens want to talk if he makes a speaker and yells at them?
No. Instead they self-destruct the entire contents of this Sphere, themselves included.
from_scratch
They're really not making this much of a fight. Seriously, guys.
How many portals out of here?
How many portals out of here?
Six!
It's going to be a bit of a maze. But not nearly as bad as it could be, if the aliens keep helpfully destroying all the obstacles every time he gets near them.
It's going to be a bit of a maze. But not nearly as bad as it could be, if the aliens keep helpfully destroying all the obstacles every time he gets near them.
from_scratch
It is very helpful of them!
He thinks he's cleared enough of a buffer zone to go back and notify the clam planet people though.
He makes a new comm. "Hey there!"
He thinks he's cleared enough of a buffer zone to go back and notify the clam planet people though.
He makes a new comm. "Hey there!"
from_scratch
"Hi! So the aliens really, really don't want to talk. They want to shoot ineffectually at me and then blow themselves up. A lot. There's a maze of spheres past the next one - it forks into two, and then one side's got five and one's got six, haven't gone farther than that yet. Do you have anything resembling a guess of how long it would take me to convince all these aliens to self-destruct?"
slash-of-gold
"That's likely to depend on how many there are, and we've never been able to determine that beyond 'always more'," says Azair.
from_scratch
"I mean more like how long would it take me to navigate the entire infested maze of Spheres. How many portals is it customary to have."
slash-of-gold
"Anywhere from a handful to hundreds. It's a very individual thing. And I have no idea what state these Spheres were in when the Enemy got to them - it's possible their owners tried to close as many portals as they could... it's also possible they didn't get the chance."
from_scratch
"Well, isn't that grand. I'm going to see if I can get a physical comm connection to hold across a portal, then we won't be cut off while I'm ferreting them out and you won't have to wonder how I'm doing. Stand by."
Cam makes a wired hookup between a thing and another thing on each side of this near portal and goes to the far side and says, "Testing."
Cam makes a wired hookup between a thing and another thing on each side of this near portal and goes to the far side and says, "Testing."
from_scratch
"Okay, I'll just leave a trail of these relays as I go. You will probably hear explosions. It turns out when their weapons and industrial parks disintegrate they often blow up. Deplorable workplace safety standards."
honest-opinion
"I'm glad you're having fun," the voice of the king puts in.
from_scratch
"It'll get really tedious eventually but I do like being helpful and these aliens are really emphatic about being unwilling to entertain the possibility of receiving help, so it's all you guys."
from_scratch
"I thought so!"
Cam places more relays and ventures on into the maze, mapping as he goes, periodically shouting at the aliens (he composes a couple novel variants on the phrase with what little vocab he has).
Cam places more relays and ventures on into the maze, mapping as he goes, periodically shouting at the aliens (he composes a couple novel variants on the phrase with what little vocab he has).
The pattern continues.
The structure of this maze is really haphazard. As he progresses, though, it's fairly consistent that Spheres which contain aliens lead to more Spheres which contain aliens. (Some contain no aliens and very little alien infrastructure. Those ones are still, however, rigged to violently explode.)
The structure of this maze is really haphazard. As he progresses, though, it's fairly consistent that Spheres which contain aliens lead to more Spheres which contain aliens. (Some contain no aliens and very little alien infrastructure. Those ones are still, however, rigged to violently explode.)
from_scratch
Cam lays relays - after each sphere is safely exploded - and reports in on his progress regularly and updates his map.
The aliens get increasingly frantic as he goes on; he catches fragments of their terrified yelling.
There is enough context, eventually, to piece together the fact that they're talking about evacuating an inhabited planet.
At least they're not talking about blowing it up?
There is enough context, eventually, to piece together the fact that they're talking about evacuating an inhabited planet.
At least they're not talking about blowing it up?
from_scratch
That's nice!
Of course, they wouldn't have to evacuate their planet if they would talk to him, but aside from occasionally yelling at them about that Cam's fresh out of ideas.
Of course, they wouldn't have to evacuate their planet if they would talk to him, but aside from occasionally yelling at them about that Cam's fresh out of ideas.
In fairness to the aliens, if Cam was not indestructible, their maze of self-destructing outposts and industrial complexes would be a really effective way to cover a retreat.
Time passes. He covers more and more of the maze. Someone manages to sneak around him and blow up some of his relays.
Time passes. He covers more and more of the maze. Someone manages to sneak around him and blow up some of his relays.
from_scratch
Well, that's inconvenient. He'll have to go back and hunt down whoever did that and replace the relays and apologize for the interruption in service.
The people who blew up his relays throw themselves at him and set off the self-destructs on their weapons, mildly inconveniencing him.